School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health (SCS) researcher Dr David Scott from the Bone and Muscle Health Group has received the prestigious 2017 Rising Star Award from the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

The highly competitive US$60,000 award funds the most promising young scientists in the bone field and recognizes Dr Scott’s research into reducing risk factors for falls and fractures in obese older adults.

Dr Scott’s recent research demonstrates that obese older adults with poor muscle function—known as sarcopenic obese—have high rates of falls and poor bone quality, resulting in increased risk of fractures.

“While exercise interventions can reduce falls risk in older adults, none have been specifically designed for the sarcopenic obese population, who have unique challenges,” Dr Scott said.

Dr Scott said that evidence generated from the pilot study will contribute to future funding applications to support larger trials, which assess whether the exercise intervention can reduce incidence of falls and fractures in sarcopenic obese older adults.

“If proven effective, these exercise guidelines can then be readily translated into community-based programs for obese older adults in Australia and worldwide,” he said.